our first two eggs

It’s the little things in life that can be so unbelievably thrilling and satisfying.

Yesterday afternoon as I went to clean out the girls coop, I was met with the greatest little surprise ever. Our first eggs!

Back in August D and I bought twenty-six baby chick to raise, use their eggs, and butcher.

Well, things changed and somewhere down the line D and I transitioned into a Vegan lifestyle and eating the eggs and meat of our chickens (or any chicken) was no longer something we wanted to do and so we were left with a difficult decision.

What the heck do we do with all those chickens?

We decided we wanted to keep a few of our favorites and the eggs that they produced, we’d give away to friends and family. We ended up selling fifteen of our flock, a mix of hens and roosters, to a lovely couple who own The Collective, which is a farm and community cooperative development project. And although I still struggle with the fact the roosters will be getting butchered, there was no way we could have kept all of them with our hens starting to lay.

So what about our eggs?

Even though we’ve made the decision to not eat them anymore, we did decided to keep four of the hens for agricultural purpuses and becuase their poop is one of the greatest things you can add to your composting bin. And, because they are four of the coolest ‘chicks’ around!

And I have to say, finding those eggs was one of the coolest little surprises I’ve gotten in a long time. We knew that the little ladies would start laying in the next few weeks but honestly, I thought it would be closer to March then at the end of January.

So now, every morning when I pull on my muck boots and trek out to the pasture, hop over the electric fence (don’t worry, the top wire isn’t on but don’t tell the goats!), and open the side hatch of the coop, I will do so with great anticipation, knowing there will be four perfectly oval eggs sitting there waiting for me.

I’m so proud of our lil’ hens, just as a momma hen should be.